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I pay my neighbor 5$ day to come over in AM and PM to feed my guinea pigs. When we go it's often for five days so we pay $25.00. My D pet sits this neighbors numerous pets as well. They are both 18 now, they have been doing this for us and for other neighbors since they we about 12 years old. I THINK we have increased the money over that time....

As a frame of reference, I pay a professional sitter $15 per visit which I consider reasonable. If I'm gone the entire day I have her come 3 times so $45 for the day but I consider it $ well spent. Takes the dog outside, pets (I hope!) him a bit, feeds him in the AM.

If it's a high school kid I say $20 or more likely $25. You don't want to look cheap. And if you need him again he'll oblige if you pay him well, same theory as with a babysitter.

If junior high, well I'd still go with $20. Esp if he comes at least 2 or 3 times. I wouldn't go below $20 but this is NJ where everything's high.

My son does this quite a bit for our neighbors dogs. He walks (or puts them out if they have an electric fence) them three times a day and feeds them twice a day. He earns $10 a day. Oh, also gets mail and paper. We pay the same amount when we go away to a friend of his. It's half the going rate of area kennels and we all like it so much more.

I pay our neighborhood children $50 for a week of cat care and just this summer started giving them a bit more. They clean the litter, fill the water and food bowl, and bring the mail and newspaper in. Once during the week they also roll the trash can to the street.

When I have them come for just a weekend, my husband wants me to pay them $10 a day. He says the $20 means more to them than it does to me! I use a family with three children currently ranging in age from 14-18. Which ever child answers the phone when I call gets the job!

My 13-year-old's friend fills our cat's food & water bowl, and scoop out the litter. Takes all of 5 minutes to do. We give her $5 per time. She is just thrilled with the $25 or $50 she makes when we go away.

Nope, not in Salem, but I did grow up there. My best friend lived in West Salem and I always thought that was a neat area.

Thanks all, for your advice. The boy (who is in the 6th grade and has 2 doggies of his own) is coming over on Friday to get acquainted with our house & dog, so we'll talk about the money then. I'm thinking $15 for the day - $5 for each visit. He lives next door.

I'd say about $5 per visit, but be prepared to pay more if they spend time playing with them, etc.

With our dog getting older, we now pay someone to come over and stay in the house while we are gone, so it's kind of pet sitting and house sitting. I don't have any strict rules about how much time they need to spend here, but they know that I don't want the dog going much more than 5 or so hours without being let out. And of course they're expected to stay the night. For this, I usually pay $30/night. For high school/college kids, getting paid $30 per day to spend the night at someone else's house seems reasonable. They have full range of TVs, computers, any food we have around, and the pool in the summer. I do make rules about no significant others staying over, but if they don't like to stay alone, they may have someone of the same gender over, but my rate is still the same. It's up to the primary person to decide if they want to divy it up (I don't think anyone has) with their friend.

It's funny... after we return from our trip, if it's a girl I've hired, and go to pay, I will get a very in-depth report of how our dog was for her. If it's a guy, I basically get, "Everything was fine." After some cajoling, a couple of guys have admitted that the dog slept with them.

Professional petsitters/walkers where we live charge anywhere from $15-25/hour if you want them to come in and walk/feed/play with your dog. If you want them to actually stay all day or overnight, the price is in the $80 range. Obviously, you're not going to pay a young kid who is a neighbor, that kind of money. However, $5 a visit is pretty low. Will he have to walk the dog on each visit? For how long? The time involved is something which should definitely be considered. Finding someone you like, who is reliable and good with your dog, is a good thing! I agree that you should discuss with him the financial aspect of the job when he comes over on Friday. Maybe he does this for other families and has a rate in mind.

oregonianmom, I think the point here is you are only going for ONE day. If it were multiple days, $10 or $15 per day might be OK. But this is one LONG day that requires multiple visits. I'm of the feeling you shouldn't go under a twenty dollar bill. Are you going to miss $5 or $10?

I'm starting to get curious about how these compars with each locales babysitting. For example for my neighbor to come and put food in a guinea pig bowl takes about 15 minutes, and I pay $5 for that, that would mean $20/hr, way more than my d gets for baby sitting. I understand it's not the same thing, but for those who pay say $5.00 a visit, just to feed; no playing or walking, or scooping of excrement, what's the rate for a babysitter?

I do remember when my D was asked to care for a new puppy, and a new lawn, it was quite demanding. Both required maybe hourly attention...and guess who stood in when she was gone for several hours?

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